Applying Transfer vs Regular Decision

Transfer Students
1

Sorry if I’m in the wrong section or anything, I’m a bit new to the website.

I am a high school senior and have a 3.82gpa and was considering applying to a local community college and then transferring to a four year university afterwards. The reason for this is that all of my high school credits will transfer to the community college (I have over a year completed), but not to the universities I’m looking at; however universities will accept all credits from the community college, so by extension, my high school credits. The only thing holding me back is my college gpa is currently a ~3.5 and I feel this might hinder my ability to later transfer, and make me less competitive when applying to medical school.
In this case, is it still worth to go to a community college and transfer, or am I better off starting fresh at a University with only a few credits?
I also hear it is much more difficult to apply as a transfer and financial aid is more competitive, so if anyone could shed some light on that I would appreciate it.

Thanks!

Also general transfer questions thread

2

How much can you afford to pay? Find that out from your parents.

Then run the Net Price Calculator at the website of each of the colleges and universities that you are interested in. That will give you and your parents an idea of whether or not the place might be affordable.

With a 3.8, if you have equivalent ACT or SAT scores, there are a number of places that could give you significant merit-based aid. Read through these two threads and see if anything looks good to you:
http://competitivefulltuition.yolasite.com/
http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/

Transfer students rarely receive merit-based aid. If your family can afford the universities you are looking at with just need-based aid, then completing an associates degree at the CC on the cheap, and then transferring to the university can make sense.